IMF, World Bank to debate 'low growth trap'

Tokyo

WHAT the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) has called the "low growth trap" in which the global economy is ensnared will dominate debate when finance ministers, central bank governors and legions of financiers meet in Washington next week for the annual meetings of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank.

And, with a growing consensus that monetary easing is approaching the limits of its effectiveness in some advanced economies, attention is expected to focus on the prospects for concerted fiscal stimulus to banish the spectre of economic recession.

High on the agenda will be what some argue is the need for a strong boost to infrastructure spending in both advanced and emerging economies. But some fear that discussion in Wash…